The Mushroom Ring
by UMandSF
Summary: Sonic and friends meet an unlikely hero whom must join forces to save everyone. Hopefully, this is in the right section. [Inaugural work.]
1. Default Chapter

Prologue

There once existed a peaceful kingdom, where everyone lived in bliss and harmony. No one was angry at each other for a substantial amount of time, and everyone was more than happy to help those who needed it. Almost every day was bright and sunny, and not even rain nor inclement weather could dampen the denizens of this land. There was a princess who ruled this kingdom. She was forced to take the leadership at the young age of 15, because of her parents', the king and queen, had mysteriously vanished. She didn't remember spending any time with them and believed she had lost them at an even younger age. Though she was doubtful that she would be able to keep the peace, she instantly won the hearts of everyone for her selfless ways and charitable nature. She would help out everyone who was in need, and always looked out four her subjects. For the next five years, the kingdom continued to thrive in tranquility, most accepting influences from other places and adjusting to new ways of life. This peace, however, was not to last long.

Shortly before the disappearence of the king and queen, there was one reptilian creature whose heart was filled with evil and hate. He despised the princess' ways when she took the crown, yet he immediately fell in love with her, although he didn't always understand why. With a greedy heart, he managed to gather others who wanted the princess out and formulated a new empire, bent on evil ways, with him as king. On the princess' 20th birthday, during the celebration in the capital's square, this ruthless ruler, along with some of his followers, stormed the party and took the princess away. The citizens had never faced something like this and were unable to stop him.

At around this time, two brothers were working on some damaged pipes in the sewers under the streets of Brooklyn, New York. The two of them were known throughout the city for their excellent plumbing ability. They were willing to repair small leaks or large problems at an affordable price. Unfortunately, this kind of humble attitude provided them with little money, and they were just able to scrape by. They also had lost their parents at a young age, leaving them to fend for themselves. Through this, they developed an extremely tight brotherly bond that lasted through their late 20s.

On this particular day, they often caught sight of small reptilian creatures emerging from an abnormally large pipe they had not noticed. They ignored it as being a hallucination after two long hours of work. Before they could finish the job, they looked up once again to see about 25 of these creatures surrounding them, ready to attack. All of a sudden, they felt a sense of courage run through their body and together, they disposed of the creatures and sent them retreating from the pipe from where they came. The brothers became intrigued by this and decided to follow them through the pipe.

After crawling throught the dirty pipe for about ten minutes, they emerged in another sewer. They found the way outside and stood around in the blazing sun, which they considered weird since it was a very rainy day when they had entered the Brooklyn sewers. The two brothers decided to walk around a nearby town and were taken aback by its inhabitants. The people walking around were not really people, but rather small creatures with what appeared to be large spotted hats but were actually part of them. They were just under four feet tall and the children were even smaller. Although the town itself was seen as a tranquil plae, the citizens were in an uproar.

One old creature with a large white mustache, walked up to them and asked for help. The two brothers listened as he told them that some evil creatures had kidnapped their fair princess in the middle of a celebration and someone had to go get her back. The smaller and chubbier of the two brothers looked up and saw the white brick castle with the red roof and three spires just outside the city. He admired its beauty, but he became transfixed at the effigy of the princess adorning the stained-glass window near the top of the castle. He saw the princess with beautiful white skin and flowing blonde hair, wearing a pink dress and matching blue earrings and brooch. Unlike the townspeople, she was human. Before he could think, he found himself volunteering to rescue the princess. His timid brothers and the other inhabitants urged him not to go, telling him that the monster was at least seven feet tall and had an armored shell as hard as steel, but he ignored them and went on his way.

After a day-long travel, he arrived at the monster's lair, which stood at the edge of the gloomiest forest imaginable. As he began to get nearer, he encountered more of the same creatures that he and his brother had vanquished eariler. Using his athletic skills and maneuverability, he easily defeated them and those that he encountered along the gloomy hallways of the castle. After all was said and done, he opened the door that led to the throne room, and there, in the middle of the room was the same princess he had seen in the window. Although he had subconsciously considered her beautiful from the effigy, he found her even more attractive in person. The princess was delighted to see him after being there for a few days. As he began to untie her from the post on which she was held prisoner, another door in the back of the room slammed open, causing the man to turn around in surprise.

There stood the monster, just like the townspeople had described, only he looked more menacing up close. The monster became angry and ordered the man to back away or face a horrible death. The man naturally refused and engaged in battle with the creature. The monster charged at the plumber, 800 pounds of pure might. Unfortunately, the man dove out of the way, and the monster crashed into the wall, bringing it down. He turned around and opened his massive mouth as if to swallow him but instead let out a burst of flames from his belly. He began scorching everything in sight as he tried to make himself some fried human for dinner. The man continued to run around the room, unable to land a blow on the brute. He backed himself against the wall and waited for the monster to approach. The monster saw this opportunity and lifted one large claw and swiped it down at the puny human, only to dig it into the wall, making him unable to move. The man quickly ran to the adjacent wall, jumed high into the air and kicked off the wall. He used this power to deliver a mighty kick upside the monster's head. As the man and princess watched, the creature began to sway with weakness before falling down to the concrete floor, knocked out cold.

When he was sure that the monster was defeated, he quickly untied the princess, who thanked him very much for his heroism. She offerd him a most gratifying reward, but the man rejected it. Together, they walked back to the castle where they were greeted with cheers and applause. A celebration was ordered to celebrate the arrival of the kingdom's hero. The next day, despite the pleas of the princess and people, the brothers ventured once more into the sewers to find the pipe from whence they came, but they never again to find it. They were not disappointed, however, and decided to make the town their new home. They were given a home at no expense to them, and the two continued to work together to prevent the monster from ever taking over the kingdom. News of their heroic acts spread quickly, and the two became known throught that world.

The townspeople did acquire one unique tradition in which they often wished upon the stars, which most of the time worked. This is because of the legendary Star Spirits, seven wise and powerful spirits that sat above the world and watched it day and night to keep it from major harm. After the kidnapping of the princess, they began to gratify the restless people with wishes that were almost always granted. The only exceptions were wishes of greed and selfishness or of impossibility and irrationality. This is why the monster's heart came to loath the dieties, for they never granted his desires. They were able to grant the wishes by use of a powerful rod called the Star Rod, in which rested a large amount of magic. They also took their time to protect this sacred treasure from falling into the wrong hands.

It was now a few years after the first kidnapping of the princess, for she was kidnapped frequently by the monster and rescued by the man. The Star Spirits had gone through a whole day without receiveing a single wish. They kept constant watch over the Star Rod and talked about the events that had recently occured. As they conversed, the orb containing the Star Rod began to shimmer and glow. Before the Star Spirits could ask, the light intensified and filled the whole chamber where they resided. After a few seconds, the light dimmed, but the orb continued to glow. Eldstar, the oldest of the Star Spirits, floated to the orb and peered inside it for an answer.

"Well," asked Mamar, "what do you see?"

Eldstar kept watching as the other spirits joined in.

"It...it's another evil that will plague the kingdom," replied Eldstar. "A cold-hearted man shall come to this world and join forces with the evil one to take over the kingdom."

Skolar jumed right in.

"That's terrible," he said. "We can not let this happen."

"Eldstar," inquired Misstar, "what do we do?"

"Patience, Misstar." said Eldstar, not taking his eyes from the orb.. "No one has any need to worry. This man will also be sent here with other who oppose his evil way and..."

He was cut short as the orb returned to normal and the Star Rod was visible again.

"Well, that's a good thing, right?" asked Klevar.

"Of course," said Kalmar. "If those others oppose him, I'm sure they will be able to stop him."

"Maybe..."

The six other Star Spirits turned to Eldstar.

"Maybe...they would fail."


	2. Chapter One Ready For Travel

Note - Sonic and all related characters are copyrighted by Service Games (Sega).

Chapter One

Far away, on a distant planet many light-years away, there existed another planet, very similar to our Earth. There were humans and animals like on Earth, but the animals were classified into two very distinct classes. There were regular animals, like the ones you find throughout our planet. The other kind were a cross between humans and animals and were justly classified as anthropomorphic. There were many, but most tended to live secluded in forests and away from the hustle and bustle. The reason was that when they were first discovered, many people considered them dangerous and many were slaughtered. After the government came to realize that they were harmless, they were accepted into society and some provided government-funded lodging, especially those who had lost their parents in the killings.

One particular example is the world-reknowned Sonic the Hedgehog. He was well-known for thwarting the world-conquering attempts of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, an evil supergenius scientist with an IQ of 300. Dr. Eggman, as he was refered to by Sonic and his friends, was a master at building machines, which he used to take over the world, was no match for the speedy rodent. This had been going on for a few years, but Sonic never grew tired of it. In fact, he enjoyed stopping Dr. Eggman from achieving his goal.

One day, in a city called Station Square, Sonic was resting on top of the roof of the Station Square Train Station. As he gazed up at the clouds floating above him in the sky, he reflected on his most recent battle with Dr. Eggman, which occured a few days ago. He clearly remembered as Eggman's 20-foot-tall robot began to smash trees as it made its way to Station Square. Sonic easily defeated it by blasting through it using his super speed and sent Dr. Eggman flying away.

It was now four days later and he once again longed for excitement.

"Boy, it sure has been quiet for a while," he said to himself.

He stood up to get a better view of the city. In the distance, just outside the city, was a jungle area, which gave him an idea.

"I think I'll go visit Tails. He should be doing something."

So Sonic ran off in the direction of the jungle and came across a small house with a large addition to the side, just outside the jungle. It only took him about two minutes to for a trip that would normally take about 15 minutes via train. When he arrived, he knocked on the door, hoping that Tails will greet him at the door. Unfortunately, he was greeted by someone else.

"Sonic!" replied a pink hedgehog at the door.

"Amy?" wondered Sonic.

Before Sonic could react. Amy wrapped her arms around him. For fifteen seconds, Sonic struggled to get her off, but managed to do that only when he stepped on her foot.

"Ouch," replied Amy. "What was that for?"

"The question is," said Sonic, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, Tails invited us for lunch today. Why don't you join us?"

"Thanks. I am kind of hungry."

The two of them walked into the house. Just as they were about to enter the kitchen, Sonic asked Amy what she meant by "us." His question was answered wne he saw Cream and Cheese sitting at the table, nibbling away at a sandwich. She politely offered some to Sonic, who gladly took some.

As Sonic sat there, happily munching a cheese and turkey sandwich, another door in the kitchen opened. Sonic spit out the food in his mouth all over the table, making Cream scream in surprise. Sonic was surprised at what he saw coming through the door. Tails had stepped into the kitchen but was extremely dirtry.

As he stepped into the kitchen, he was covered in what seemed to be soot. His orange fur had darkened substantially, and the white fur was now pitch black. Sonic and the others couldn't help but stare at him.

"Tails, what happened to you?" asked Sonic.

"Sorry, but one of the engines blew while I was working," replied Tails.

"You've been working all day, Tails," said Amy. "Sit down and have something to eat."

Tails agreed and reached for the plate of sandwiches. Just as he was about to grab one, Cream grabbed his arms.

"Tails," she said, "you know you're supposed to wash before you start eating."

"Oh, right," said Tails, blushing.

He didn't take more than four steps when the house began to shake. Plates fell out of the cabinets, followed by the glasses and pots, splattering glass and porcelain all over the floor. Parts of the ceiling fell off, but missed everyone. Cream clutched Cheese in fear.

"Wh-what's happening?" she asked.

Sonic looked up at the crumbling ceiling. He saw cracked form in it right above the ceiling. He knew it was going to give way. Sonic, thinking quickly, knocked Cream out of her chair and onto the floor, just as the ceiling came down, smashing the table and knocking over the plate of sandwiches.

"Wow, Sonic," said Cream. Thanks for sav..."

"There's no time for thanks," replied Sonic. "We have to get out of her now."

The four of them plus Cheese, tightly wrapped in Cream's arms, quickly got up and made their way to the entrance as more debris rained down from the ceiling. They were disappointed to find that the doorway was blocked by wooden beams and planks piled up. Withoput a warning, the trembling intensified even further and many sounds of crashing and cracking filled the air.

"Sonic, what do we do?" yelled Amy amid the noise.

"Don't worry, everyone," said Sonic. "Just hold on."

Without thinking, Sonic grabbed the others and gathered them in his arms and kept them close to him in an attempt to keep them from the harm of falling material. The earthquake would still not let up. It seemed as an eternity had passed when the house, unable to support itself from heavy damage, collapsed around them. One plank managed to fall on top of Sonic's forehead and leave a large gash running down it, which immediately began to bleed. Suddenly, the earthquake stopped and everything became tranquil again. No one wanted to look at what happened. It wasn't until Tails first opened his eyes and let out a gasp that everyone took a gander.

The house had completely fallen down and was emitting dust and ash from the rubble. Many papers flew with the wind, experiments and research of Tails. The lab next to house was also in shambles, but under the debris, a fire started, emitting plumes of black smoke. Tails stood there, mouth agape, shocked at what just happened. No one spoke for two minutes. Only Tails' low reply to the disaster broke the stillness of nature.

"My house."

Sonic felt the pain on his forehead and lifted his hand up to rub the blood from his head before placing his other on his best friend.

"Tails..."

The fox seemed to not hear him. He just slowly turned his head to the remains of his laboratory, still bellowing the pitch-black fumes.

"My lab."

Tails mindlessly walked over to the ruins of his lab. As he reached it, he placed a hand on one of the plates of metal that was on the roof. One tear fell on it and quickly ran off into the ground.

"Tails!" shouted Sonic. "Get away from..."

It was too late. Tails was unaware that the plane was still in the lab. The remains of the lab blew in different directions as the compressed gas in the plane caught fire and exploded. Tails was also blown back from the explosion and flew backwards before landing at the feet of the other three, who sought him back to his feet. Tails was stunned momentarily as he saw the house and the lab now completely engulfed in flames.

"My Tornado!" screamed Tails after a few seconds of silence. He broke down and wept at the lost of the plane Sonic had given him, his most prized possession. He ran to Sonic and buried his face into his chest, not letting up his weeping and wailing. Sonic, sympathetic of the kid, hugged him and softly rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm sorry, Tails," whispered Sonic. "Listen, everything will be okay."

"Aw, how cute," an angry and all-too-familiar voice sarcastically stated.

Sonic and the others turned up to see a large metallic robot ten feet high in their midst. Its arm were massive, ten feet long and two wide. Sitting at the top of the robot behind very thick glass was none other than the bald and bushy-mustached figure of Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik.

"You," said Sonic. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" responded the scientist. "Why, I'm just on a little demolition derby.

"What?" shouted Tails. "You destroyed my house? You destroyed everything I owned and treasured?"

"Yeah," responded Dr. Eggman. "So?"

"How could you do something like that?" asked Cream feebly.

"You're such a creep," said Amy.

"Chao chao," squealed Cheese.

"Enough of this," asserted Dr. Eggman. "Time to meet your doom, Sonic!"

Without warning, one of the arms of the robot extened itself and smashed the ground where the four of them had just been. They were able to dive out of the way and dodge the attack. Sonic quickly got to his feet and confronted the machine.

"Too slow," he stated. "Like always. This will be a piece of cake."

Sonic jumped into the air, began to spin very rapidly, and hurled himself at the robot. He tried to penetrate the outer layer of steel on the robot, but was unsuccessful. He was only able to leave a scratch. He bounced back and fell onto the ground. He didn't give up and tried a couple more times, but to no avail. Suddenly, the right arm of the robot shot down at Sonic and pinned him to the ground. Sonic tried to squeeze out but was unable to budge even an inch. Dr. Eggman just laughed maniacally and applied more pressure onto Sonic, causing him to scream in pain. He began to feel week as he started passing out, but just before it happened, Amy leapt into the air and pulled out her red and gold hammer. She swung it at the extended arm and caused it to buckle and break, freeing Sonic. He leapt up and ran over to Amy.

"Gee, thanks, Amy," he pleasantly said.

"Thanks."

"Where are Tails, Cream, and Cheese?" Sonic asked, looking about him.

"They went to hide in the nearby bush...AAH!"

Sonic was surprised to see that the robotic arm had clutched her tight in its grip, disabling her chances of escaping. She screamed in fear as she was lifted fifteen feet into the air. Dr. Eggman just sat there, manically laughing.

"Eggman," Sonic said, "you let her down right now or else!"

"Or else what?" shouted back Dr. Eggman. "I dare you to take one step closer to me."

Sonic did just that, but just as he did, Dr. Eggman pressed a button on the machine and the hand clutching Amy squeezed even harder. She screamed even louder, causing Sonic to step back. The machine loosened its grip and Dr. Eggman just stared down at Sonic, evily grinning from ear to ear. Sonic decided to test Dr. Eggman one more time and once again took a step forward. He stepped back when he heard Amy scream again.

"Sonic," she yelled, "stop it!"

"Ha ha!" shouted Dr. Eggman. "See, you can't beat me. This baby is powered by six Chaos Emeralds. It's virtually invincible. I'd like to see you get..."

He was caught off guard as the machine rocked back and forth. A red streak had appeared and crashed into the arm holding Amy. The arm buckled and lost on her. Out of nowhere, Knuckles appeared and caught her just before she hit the ground.  
Knuckles set Amy down on the ground and turned to Dr. Eggman.

"Eggman," he shouted, "time to finish you off!"

"You again?" stated Dr. Eggman. "I thought you agreed to be on my side."

Sonic and Amy, not believing that Knuckles had been fooled, again, started to snicker. Knuckles turned around and confronted them.

"You think it's funny, do you?" he said.

"Knuckles, look out!" said Sonic, pointing back at Dr. Eggman's machine.

The machine brought its hand down at the three. Once again, they all got out of the way. Knuckles quickly got up and charged at the machine. He punched it over and over again, each time harder, for about 15 seconds. He stepped back in surprise as he found out that the worst damage he made was a few dents and scratches on the surface. He was about to go at it again, but stopped as Amy stepped in front of the machine.

"Hey, you big egghead," she shouted up to Dr. Eggman. "Try and catch me."

"What?" Dr. Eggman surprisingly said. "I'll show you!"

Dr. Eggman frantically pressed buttons on the control panel. The robot started to smash the ground constantly in an attmept to hit the pink hedgehog, but Amy was able to get out of the way every time. Knuckles was puzzled at was she was doing. Just as he was about to ask her if she was out of her mind, he glanced over at Sonic, who tied up the legs of the robot with some electrical wires from Tails' house. Knuckles finally understood and soon joined Amy. Together, they taunted Dr. Eggman into chasing them farther from the rubble of the house. Dr. Eggman's machine moved forward and tripped as the wire reached its full length. As soon as the machine hit theground, it let up a large plume of dirt and dust. Dr. Eggman was not shaken one bit, but was a bit disturbed. He turned around to see the wires tied to the robot's legs. He followed the wires adn saw that it led to an electrical switch which was still grounded to a wall that had managed to stay up. Sonic stood next to the switch with one inger on it and flashed a smile at his nemesis. Before Dr. Eggman was able to escape from the robot, Sonic flipped the switch, which sent electricity through the wires and into the circuitry of the robot, shooting it. Without any power to open the hatch, Dr. Eggman was trapped in the head of the robot as the others looked on.

Just as it was deemed to be safe, Tails, Cream, and Cheese emerged from the nearby bushes.

"Wow, guys," said Tails. "You did it."

"Eh, it was easy," said Sonic.

Knuckles and Amy also joined them, but Amy appeared sweaty and panting.

"What do you mean 'easy'?" she said, trying to get some air.

"Whoa, Tails," Knuckles said as he took a look at the mess around him. "What happened to your house?

Tails, still heartbroken at the lost of his lovely abode and plane, hung his head down.

"Knuckles, you made him cry again," Cream said.

"What?" he asked. "All I did was ask him something."

"Knuckles, please," Sonic said. "He been through enough today."

Before anyone had time to say anything, the ground before their feet began to rumble. All of a sudden, the very same ground crmbled down underneath them and they fell down. They didn't fall for long before they landed in an underground chamber. The only light came from the hole high above them.

"Is everyone all right?" Sonic called out.

Four groans and a squeal told him everyone was present.

"Where are we?" asked Knuckles as he looked around.

Everyone else followed him and stopped as their eyes came fixed upon a door lit by the sunlight peeping throught the hole. It was an elaboratly-decorated door, estimated height at twenty feet. On the sides were seven large holes, just large enough to fix a Chaos Emerald in. Coincidentaly, the six Chaos Emeralds from Dr. Eggman's machine fell through the ground and were laying on the floor. Knuckles picked them up, while the others stepped closer to the door to inspect it.

"What is it?" asked Amy.

"I don't know," said Sonic.

"Hey, it says something at the top," Cream pointed out.

Sure enough, there was an inscription adoring the edges of the door.

" 'Chaos is the key to peace'," Knuckles read. "What baloney! That doesn't make sense."

"I guess they must be talking about the Chaos Emeralds," deduced Tails. "There are even holes on the wall for them.

"Should we?" asked Amy.

"Why not?" Sonic said. "I'm always up for an adventure."

"But...but what if it's something scary?" said Cream in fear.

"Oh, come on," Knuckles said. "If' it's supposed to bring peace, how can it be scary?"

Knuckles placed the Chaos Emeralds in each hole. As he did, each emerald and hole began to glow. The door also began to glow and shake a bit. Just as quickly as it happened, the lights disappeared.

"I guess we have to find the last Emerald," Knuckles said. "Start searching."

Cream began to speak. "Hey, I..."

"How do you know it's here, Knuckles?" asked Tails.

"Guys, I..."

"I can feel it," he said. "It's around here somewhere."

"Guys..."

"Don't worry, Cream," Sonic said. "Nothing bad will happen."

They searched a little longer for the emerald, but were unable to find it. The only thing that stopped them was a bright light and loud rumbling sound. They turned around and saw Cream standing in front of the door, the seventh Chaos Emerald in place.

"Cream!" shouted Sonic. "You had the last Emerald?"

"Yeah, I found in in the bu..."

She was cut off as the light engulfed her. The light continued to spread out throughout the chamber and out the hole to cover the rubble of the house and Dr. Eggman's robot as the door began to open.. Just as soon as it appeared, it faded away. Sonic, the others, the Chaos Emeralds, the destroyed house and the robot had all disappeared and the door closed behind them.

Little did they know that Cream's action would change all their lives...forever.


End file.
